Material applicator for planographic printing machines



July 11, 1939. F. E. CURTIS 2,165,235

MATERIAL APPLICATOR FOR PLANOGRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 10, 1958 2 sheat s-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JrM/IALE. @41 5 H 2 BY 3m", M J/Zm/ ATTORNEYS.

July 11, 1939; F, E, Cu -1s- 2,165,235

MATERIAL APPLICATOR FOR PLANOGRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 10,1958 2 Shets-Sheet- 2 ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 11, 1939 PATENT orrlcs MATERIAL mmca'ron ron PLAN GRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINES Franklin E. Curtis, Willonghby, Ohio, assignor to Addresaograph-Multlgraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application September 1o,19ss, Serial No. 229,242

This applicationis a continuation in part of my copending applicationNo. 147,507, filed June 10th, 1937, and its division No. 174,396, filed November 13th, 1937.

-'I'he present invention is especially concerned with improvements in the automatic application of repellant and ink to the printing cylinder of a planographic printing machine. f The object of the invention is to provide a simple mechanism which is reliable in operation, and-not likely to get out of. order, forcausing a proper transference of the repellent from its fountain to the plate carrying drum, and the ink from its fountain to said drum.

The invention includes features concerned with the ductor rolls of the repellent and ink application, for causing the ductor rolls tomake accu- 1 material applicator System in Planogmpmc rate contact with the fountain rolls and the other rolls with which the ductors coact to transfer material'eifectively. to the'printing roller. A feature of the mechanism is that it enables a dwell of the ductor' roll in contact with the cooperating roll while the mechanism continues its movement toi'operate'th'e fountain roll. In the case of the repellant application, where the difflculty has been to transfer the very liquid repellant from the fountain to; the plate, my mechanism holds the doctor. roll positively in engagement with the fountain roll while the same mechanism operates to turn the fountain roll, thus effectively-carrying the liquid to theductor roll. In the case of the inking mechanism, where the viscosity of the ink allows the fountain roll to feed plenty of ink to the ductor roll, I cause the ductor roll 'to dwell against the roll to which the ink is to be delivered. and hold it positively-in such engagement to obtain eifective transfer, notwithstanding the viscosity of the ink, and I use the opposite stroke of the same mechanism as it returns the ink ductor to the fountain roll. a I

To obtain proper contact of the. ductor rolls throughout their length with the respective rolls with which they coact, and at the same time hold the ductor rolls in proper longitudinal position, v

I moimt each du'ctor roll in a yoke pivoted centrally, on an axis normal to theroll axis, to'a swinging operating device which is connected-tov the operating mechanism. This insures the duc-. tor roll promptly engaging the roll with which it contacts throughout the length of the ductor roll at an equalized pressure. 5

My invention relating to the above features,

is hereinaftenmore fully described in connection plates I I the frame members gripper and ejector. mechanism,

with the present embodimentjhereof. as illus-v trated in the drawings. 1

In the drawings. Fig. 1 is'a substantially centrally located longitudinal section for a printingv machine, embodying my improved material ap- 5 plicator system; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation thereof, showing the ductor-operating mechanism; Fig. 3is an enlarged detail of a portion of the ductor-operating'"mechanism; Fig. 4

printing machine of the type shown and described in my copending application heretofore referred to.

ence may be had to the copending application, referred for a more complete disclosure ofsuch machine. In the drawings of the, present application there is shown a frame, comprising a pair of side and I2, tied together by suitable cross members, some of which are generally indicated at IU. Rotatably Journalled in this frame are a 30 pair of horizontally extending shafts i5 and IS, the former supporting a transfer roll it and the latter a pattern roll l9,'which carries a printing member B. The shafts l5 and it may be mounted in eccentric bushings, not shown, to permit them to be adjusted, one with the other. Rotatably journalled on a shaft 20, below the transfer or offset cylinder i8, is a platen roll 2i.

'I'he platen roll shaft 20 maybe supported by l! and I2 in a manner to permit adjustment and alignment of the roll with the offset cylinder. A suitable sheet feed table 22 is mounted on the frame ,to enable work sheets to be fed into the bite'of the platen and offset rolls 2land l8, respectively. 4,5 The offset roll may be provided with'a suitable illustrated in my copending application 147,507, heretofore 'mentioned, to receive the'paper sheet ahead of the bite'ofthe printing couple and eject or strip 50 such sheet from the roll following the passing .of the paper between the printing couple, guiding such printed sheet beneath a paper guide 23 into a suitablereceptacle 24 carrledby the frame. The present invention is especially concerned Inth'e present application this 20 printing machine has been simplified in many .details for ease of illustration. ,However, referwith the material applicator system for first applying an ink repellant to the planographic or similar type ofprinting plate, and subsequently.

applying planoeraphic ink to such repellant coated plate, so that only the image portions of the printingplate will carry ink to the transfer roll l8, and thereby to the work sheet.

The moistening or ink repellant fluid is stored in a removable fountain or tray 3', which is supported on lugs or cars 3| extending from the frame plates I] and I2. This fluid is removed from the'fountain by a'fountain roll 32. The fountain roll is drivingly mounted on stub shafts 33a and 3321, which are journalled in respectiveframe plates II and II, This roll is intermittently driven, as will be hereinafter described.

The moistening or repellant fluid is transferred from the fountain roll 32 to a form roll "by a ductor roll 35. The ductor roll is rotatably mounted on a shaft 36, supported by upstanding arms of a yoke 31, Fig. 5. This yoke is pivotally secured to a second yoke", the downwardly depending arms of which are pivotally mounted on respective. frame members II and If, as at 39.

This pivotal connection and its advantages will be hereinafter more 'fully described. The ductor roll 35 is intermittently rocked from contact with the fountain roll 32 into. contact with the form roll 34, as hereinafter explained.

The form roll 34, of the repellant applicator system is rotatably supported as by a shaft 40, suitably carried so as to have a proper pressure against the printing plate. For simplicity of iilustration, no adjustment of this shaft is shown in the drawings, and no means, except the resilience of the roll-covering for supplying pressure, but this can be eifected, if desired, by mounting this roll in a removable frame spring pressed toward 7 the pattern drum, as shown in referred to.

Both the form roll 34 and the ductor roll 35 my applications are provided with absorptive fabric coverings to enable them to convey the fluid from the fountain roll to the printing plate.

Ink is supplied to the moistened .pattern by an yoke is pivotally swured as at 58, as will be hereinafter more fully described, to a second yoke 59,- the'depending arms of which are pivotally secured to respective frame members II and I2, as at a. The support of the ink ductoris therefore similar to that of therepellantductor, as shown in Pig; 5.

The ductor roll 55 is rocked periodically about the pivots 6|! into alternate engagement with the fountain roll and the transfer roll, by mechanism to be hereinafter more fully described.

The ink transfer roll is journalled on a shaft This transfer roll transfers the ink from the ductor roll 55 to a. form roll 62, which is journailed on a shaft 5. Theshaft OS is suitably carried in such manner that the roll may beremoved when desired, but in use is spring-pressed against the printing plate B on the plate cylinder l9. For simplicity of illustration, no means, other than the resilience of the roll itself, are shown for obtaining pressure, but the means set out in my prior applications mentioned may be employed, ifdeslre'd. v

The ink distributor roll I4; is driven in synchronism with the pattern drum l9. As indicated in Fig. 1, a gear is drivingly secured to the pattern drum and meshes with a pinion 85 which in turn drives a gear secured to the distributor roll .54. The drum I9 may bedriven from a motor M, the driven pulley II of which is connected with a pulley 88 by a drive belt 89. The pulley 88 is secured-to a stubshaft-Sl, journalled in. the frame plate 12. Also drivingly secured to this stub shaft is a spur gear 9|, which meshes with a gear 92 of a compound gear member ro'-' tatably mounted on a stud 83. The other gear 94' of this 'gear member meshes with and drives the spur gear 95, which drives the pattern drum .l'9, aswell as to the distributor roll 54. The

' ink fountain roll 5| is driven from a cam Ill mounted on the transfer roll ll, which, in turn, is driven by the pattern drum gear 15 through a gear llll, Fig. 4. y

As indicated in Fig. 2, the cam I" on the end of the offset drum coacts with a roller on a rock arm 104. This arm is mounted on a rock shaft I05, journalled in the-frame plate ll. Mounted on the other end of the'rock shaft is a lever I06. Theupper' arm of'this iever operates the repellent-applicator and the lower arm the ink applicator, as about to be described.

The upper end of the rocking lever I86 is'provided with a cam extension II", which is adapted to coact with a roller I08, carried by an arm I" extending upwardly from the yoke 3!, which car-1 ries the yoke 31 supporting the repellant ductor roll 35. .The ductor roll is normally retained against the repellent form roll 34 by a suitable spring indicated at H0, attached to the arm I, but when the upper end of the lever II! is swung toward the-left (Fig. 2) the nose of the cam extension lfll engages the roller ill and positively shoves it toward the left, until the ductor roller comes into a pressure-contact against the foun tain roll 32, as indicated in Fig. 3. At this time a face 2 of the cam extension I", which is'concentric about the' axis of the rock shaft Ill, reaches the roller I which is now positioned so that the concentric surface may ridebeneath the roller, as indicated at the broken lines in Fig. 3. The effect or this is to hold the ductor roller for a considerable time with desired pressureagainst the fountain roll, while the arm I continues its movement to perform the operation of positively turning the fountain roll,- as is about to be e lained.

'whiife the concentric surface Ill enables the lever I06 to swing freely about the positioned roller I 08, the roller I08 cannot shift its-position since it can only swing about the pivot to as a center. Accordingly, the ductor-roll remains held 1 positively against the fountain roll, notwithstanding the continued movement of the arm I".

As heretofore explained,-the ductor roll has a soft, absorbent covering, so that its surface is yielding, and hence by properly adjusting roller III the, pressure-of the'ductor roll against the fountain roll may be nicely regulated.

- adjustment 'of the roller m is enabled because this roller is mounted on aipin ll4, which isec- .centric ofthe axis of the stud III which connects the pinto the arm I. This stud] I, has an angularly formed'portion H for the application of a wrench to the stud'on its ownaxis, thereby changing the position of the roller aromas pin III, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3. The feature of positively holding the repellant ductor roll in pressing engagement with its foun-,

tain roll, while the latter-is turned, is an im-- portant characteristic of my invention, as it insures effective transfer of the repellant liquid from the fountain roll to the ductor roll. n the return stroke of the lever I06, the spring III effectively holds the ductor roll against the form roll to continue the transfer to the form roll,

and thence to the printing plate.

The upper arm of the'rocking lever IIIB is connected by a link I20 to a rock lever I2I, journailed on the shaft 33a of the repellant fountain roll 32. This shaft carries a ratchet wheel I22 (Fig. 2) and the rock lever III on its lower arm carries a pawl I23, spring-pressed toward the ratchet wheel. Accordingly, the rocking of the lever IIIl operates to give successive partial rotations to the repellant fountain roll, while the ductor roll is firmly held in contact therewith.

An adjustment is provided whereby the pawl I23 may be regulated to advance the ratchet wheel, and therefore the fountain roll 32, a varyengages the pawl from the ratchet wheel at a predetermined point, thus determining the dis-. tance the ratchet wheel is to be advanced. A suitable detent, such as the spring I28, engages one of a plurality of notches 128 in the cam plate to maintain it in an adjusted position. A lateral extension I25a of this cam plate may project through the frame and cover plates to facilitate the manipulation of the cam. If desired, a similar arrangement may be used to regulate the feed of the ratchet of the ink fountain roll heretofore described.

The ductor roll 55 of thelnk repellant applicator is likewise driven by the offset drum I8 through the cam I00 and the rocking lever I". The lower arm of this rocking lever is connected by the link I" (Fig. 2) to a lever I3I pivoted on the shaft of the inking fountain roll 5|. This lever, at its upper end, is formed with a cam surface I32, which, for the most, part, is concentric about the axis of the fountain roll shaft.

This'cam surface coacts with a roller I35 on an arm rising from the yoke 59, which carries the yoke 51 supporting this-ductor roll. The construction in this regard is similar to that heretofore described for the repellant ductor roll. If

' desired, the roller I35 may be adjusted in a manner similar to the-roller Ill. A spring "inormally maintains "the ductor roll in contact with the vfountain roll BI, but the cam III on its -movement in the left-hand direction (Fig. 2)

swings the ductor roll into contact with the proper pressure against the ink transfer roll I! and causes it to dwell in that position while the lever Iii is continuing its movement.

- The lever Iii on the axis of the ink fountain roll shaft carries a Y pawl I31 spring-pressed against the ratchet wheel Ill, attached to the 4 fountainroll shaft. The pawl and ratchet face in such direction that the movementtoward the left (Fig. 2) which carries themoveinent'of the link In to th'efleft and carries the. ductor roll into engagement with "the transfer roll, causesthe pawl to click idly over theratchet teeth,

whereas the return of the link toward the right,

which frees the ductor and enables itsspring I to bring it against the fountain roll, positively turns the fountain 'roll, its left-hand portion moving upwardly to contact with the ductor roll.

It results from the above construction that the ink ductor is held by its spring in contact with the ink fountain during the .turning of the fountain roll, andxthus readily picks up a sufficient quantity of ink, andthereafter the ductor roll is shifted and positively held' in contact withthe transfer roll until the ink is transferred to that roller. 1- have found that. this makes a very satisfactory'transference of'ink from the fountain to the transfer roll and thence to the print-l ing plate.

' To enable the convenient mounting and removal of either ductor roll from its yoke 31' or 51, I prefer to use the clip device illustrated at I", in Fig. 5. That is to say, the-left-handend of the yoke has a round hole in its upper arm for the reception of the projecting end of the ductor roll shaft, while at the right-hand end there is an open notch I to receive the shaft. Beyond the notch is the clip plate I havingan outw'ardiy curved upper end. As shown in Fig. 5,-

this clip plate is held in position by a com pression spring I42, which is compressed between the plate anda head I" on a stud carried by the yoke arm and projecting freely through a flared opening in the clip.

By finger pressure against the upper end of the clip I, that end of the ductor roll is released, enabling such end to be lifted free of the yoke arm and thus the roller may be drawn .out of the other arm of the yoke. Conversely when the roller is to be put into place, the projecting end of the shaft is passed through the round hole in the left-hand end (Fig. 5) of the yoke arm, and

the shaft .at the other end is pressed down on:

the curved upper end of the clip I. This cams the clip away from the yoke arm and allows the sealing of the shaft in registration with the opening'in the clip, whereupon the clip springs back into the position shown in Fig. 5.

From the description given, it will be seen thatI have provided an eflicient material applicator system for a "planographic or similar printing machine, which system includes a liquid repellant applicator mechanism and an ink appli-' cator mechanism, both of .which mechanisms are. driven from the offset or transfer roll, and each of which mechanisms includes a readily removable ductor roll which, when in place, is pivotally mounted on an-axis normal to itself, to enable it to align with either its fountain roll or its distributor roll, regardless of misalignment between the axes of any of the rolls. This pivotal mounting, together with the driving mechanism for oscil lating the ductor rolls and causing them to dwell in positively controlled pressure contact with their fountain and distributor rolls, results in an effective and even application of rep llant and ink to the printing plate. v

I claim: 1

1. In a2 printing machine, the combination of a plate cylinder, a form roll, a fountain roll, a

movable ductor between the formtair; roll and form roll, mechanism for operating the movable ductor comprising a swinging lever having a'concentric cam'acting on a swinging ductor support, whereby. the ductor may remain in contact with the member it engages for a relatively prolonged P riod. 4 .1

.- 2. In a printing machine, the combination with aiountain'roil having a ratchet; ,a-leverhaving a pawl to coact with the ratchet, an operating lever linked to the ratchet lever, and a cam on the operating wlever'adapted to engage an adjustably positioned member on theswinging support.

3. In a printing machine, the combination of a swinging support, a ductor roll carried thereby, a cam' pivoted on an axis diiferent from that of the swinging support, said cam having a concentric surface, andan adjustable member on the swinging support which the cam engages, whereby the cam may swing the support for a distance and thereafter hold'it in its swung position.

4. In a printing machine, the combination with an ink fountain roll, an ink transfer roll, an intermediate ductor roll mounted on a swinging support, a; ratchet wheel on the fountain roll, and a lever having a pawl to coast with the ratchet wheel, said lever having a cam adapted to engage a member on the swinging supportto hold the ductor. roll positively in engagement with the receiving roll.

- '5. In a planogi'aphic printing machine, the

combination with .a repellant supply system hav ing a-fountain roll, a ductor roll and a roll to receive material from the ductor, a rocking support for the ductor roll, a ratchet drive for-the fountain'roll, a rocking lever linked to the ratchet drive, and a cam on the lever engaging the rocki'ng support of.the ductor roll.

6. In a planographic printing machine, the combination of a plate cylinder, an ink feed and a repella-nt feed for the plate cylinder, each of 'said feeds including a movable ductor roll mounted on a'swinging support, two pivoted arms having cam portions to engage the two ductor roll supports respectively, a rock shaft connected with the respective arms and a cam for operating the rock shaft. 4

7. In a planographic printing machine, the' combination with arepellant; supply system'and an ink supply system, each having a fountain roll, a ductor roll and a roll to receive material from the ductor roll, ratchet drives for the two fountain rolls, an intermediately pivoted rocking lever linked at one end of one ratchet drive, and at the other'end to the other ratchet drive, a cam on the lever engaging the movable support of one ofthe ductor rolls and a cam on one of the ratchet drives engaging the-movable support of the other ductor.

8. In a printing machine, the combination with a pair of rolls of an interposed ductor, a swinging support for the ductor comprising a yoke having a pair of arms occupied by the ductor roll shaft,

one of the arms having a hole to receive the shaft,

the other arm having a notch, a movable spring to receive the ductor roll shaft at that end, said clip being held in position by a spring and adapted clip adjacent the latter arm and having a hole afountain roll and a material receiving roll, of an interposed ductorroll, and mechanism adapted to move'the ductor roll into contact with one of said rolls and interpose a non-yielding member positively blocking the ductor roll against return movement for an appreciable time while said mechanism continues its movement and performs another operation. I

10. The combination of a fountain roll, a duotor roll, mechanism for moving the ductor roll into contact with the fountain roll and positively holding it there for an appreciable time by means independent of friction or resiliency, and means by which said mechanism during said holding time continues its movement to turn the fountain.

roll.

a FRANKLIN E. CURTIS. 

